Maureen Farrell, a two-time Midwest PGA Section Player Development Award winner, the 2020 Section Youth Player Development Award winner and the 2011 Nebraska PGA Section Assistant Professional of the Year, is the PGA of America Director of Instruction at Oakwood Country Club in Kansas City, Missouri.
Maureen Farrell on the importance of building a team to serve your members’ needs:
I have been the PGA of America Director of Instruction at Oakwood Country Club since January of 2022 and recently earned a Golf Range Association of America (GRAA) Top 100 Growth of the Game Teaching Professional award for 2023. Helping my members and students improve their golf game is important to me, as they’ll not only shoot lower scores but will have more fun doing it and will play more golf. Keeping our golfers’ bodies golf-ready is becoming a vital aspect of player development and game improvement. As PGA of America Golf Professionals, health and wellness should be part of our engagement with members. After all, golf is a sport and we are the coaching professionals of the game. With a complete revitalization of our club under new ownership since 2020, including new fitness, pool, tennis and pickleball facilities, our membership is growing, and we’re promoting a healthy lifestyle at Oakwood. We welcomed Dr. Matt Stensrud to the team late last year. Matt is a Doctor of Physical Therapy and the owner of Star PT KC. He partners with Kansas City Strength and Conditioning and is at Oakwood Country Club three days per week. Not only is Matt TPI-certified, but he has a background in golf as an Associate Certified Member of the United States Golf Teachers Federation. Matt uses his biomechanics background, exercise prescription and knowledge of the golf swing to improve golfers’ bodies so they can move better to play better, longer and with less pain.
Maureen Farrell on the business impact of building a team to serve your members’ needs:
He offers free screens to new and existing members to help them understand the importance of golf fitness as a means to improve their golf performance. He has also sat in on many of my lessons to learn about my teaching style and to reinforce the importance of mobility and strength adjustments for the client so we can make the necessary changes in their swing and game. Matt and I agree that our collaboration is necessary for golfers to get the most out of the game-improvement experience. We believe being in the same building is important to communication, as well, so we can quickly address movement dysfunctions either through the body lens (Matt’s focus) or the skills lens (my focus). In addition to sitting in on each other’s sessions with members, we exchange our own points of view and emphasize the benefits that this holistic approach can have on our members’ enjoyment in golf. Matt also hosts some group sessions on power, speed and performance to ensure engagement with members year-round. I have always outsourced these services as my students needed them. But, it’s great to work with someone as knowledgeable as Matt on site with me, and our members are reaping the benefits. His services and our collaborative success increase the value of an Oakwood Country Club membership and help to continuously attract new members to the club.
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